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35-856: The Joseph Jefferson House , also known as the Rip Van Winkle House and Gardens , the Live Oak Gardens , and the Bob Acres Plantation , is a historic house built in 1870 on Jefferson Island in Iberia Parish, Louisiana . The Joseph Jefferson House was built in 1870 for Joseph Jefferson , an American stage and silent film actor . The house has been on the National Register of Historic Places list since June 4, 1973. The house sits on former Orange Island, now known Jefferson Island. Jefferson Island,

70-407: A British canal boat of traditional long, narrow design, steered with a tiller; spec. one not exceeding 7 feet (approx. 2.1 metres) in width or 72 feet (approx. 21.9 metres) in length The narrowboats were initially also known as barges, and the new canals were constructed with an adjacent towpath along which draft horses walked, towing the barges. These types of canal craft are so specific that on

105-463: A Spanish land grant. In 1869, actor Joseph Jefferson bought the island as a hunting and fishing location. The Joseph Jefferson House was built in 1870. Jefferson had played the role of Rip Van Winkle in cinematic adaptations of Washington Irving 's short story. Jefferson died in 1905, and the estate was inherited by his family. The estate was purchased by John Lyle Bayless in 1917. It was later inherited by his son, John Lyle Bayless Jr., who designed

140-481: A barge has given rise to the saying "I wouldn't touch that [subject/thing] with a barge pole." In the United States a barge was not a sailing vessel by the end of the 19th century. Indeed, barges were often created by cutting down ( razeeing ) sailing vessels. In New York this was an accepted meaning of the term barge. The somewhat smaller scow was built as such, but the scow also had its sailing counterpart

175-447: A dumb barge. In Europe, a Dumb barge is: An inland waterway transport freight vessel designed to be towed which does not have its own means of mechanical propulsion . In America, a barge is generally pushed. Barges are used today for transporting low-value bulk items, as the cost of hauling goods that way is very low and for larger project cargo, such as offshore wind turbine blades. Barges are also used for very heavy or bulky items;

210-431: A single mast with sails. Barge and lighter were used indiscriminately. A local distinction was that any flat that was not propelled by steam was a barge, although it might be a sailing flat. The term Dumb barge was probably taken into use to end the confusion. The term Dumb barge surfaced in the early nineteenth century. It first denoted the use of a barge as a mooring platform in a fixed place. As it went up and down with

245-432: A torrent of water and sounded the alarm, as well as the employees' discipline and training making their escape via the only elevator in an orderly fashion. The crew of seven on the drilling rig fled the platform shortly before it collapsed into the new depths of the lake. A fisherman who was on the lake at the time piloted his small boat to shore and escaped. Days after the disaster, once the water pressure equalized, nine of

280-539: A total of $ 12.8   million (equivalent to $ 39.2 million in 2023) to the Live Oak Gardens botanical garden and plant nursery , in out-of-court settlements to compensate for the damage caused. The Mine Safety and Health Administration released a report on the disaster in August 1981 which exhaustively documented the event but stopped short of identifying an official reason for the disaster. The mine

315-454: A typical American barge measures 195 by 35 feet (59.4 m × 10.7 m), and can carry up to about 1,500 short tons (1,400 t) of cargo. The most common European barges measure 251 by 37 feet (76.5 m × 11.4 m) and can carry up to about 2,450 tonnes (2,700 short tons). As an example, on June 26, 2006, in the US a 565-short-ton (513 t) catalytic cracking unit reactor

350-417: Is the first of the famous "Five Islands" of south Louisiana. These islands originate in prehistory when the enormous pressures of the earth forced a site of pure rock salt up from a mother bed, five miles below the surface. This elevated several low hills in tidal coastal marshes. Prior to Joseph Jefferson's ownership, the island was owned by Jean Laffite's brother in-law who had acquired the island through

385-499: The Diamond Crystal Salt Company salt mine . The hole produced a vortex that drained the lake into the mine, filling the enormous caverns that had been left by the removal of salt. The mine, in operation since 1919, was made up of several levels up to 1,500 feet (460 m) below the surface. Each tunnel was about 100 by 80 feet (30 m × 24 m). Pillars of salt had been left in place to support

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420-562: The National Register of Historic Places since June 4, 1973. Most all of the materials for the building of this house were local to Louisiana, with exception to the slate on the roof and small mahogany wood used for ornate pieces. The house was built with cypress trees on the island, allegedly planted by French privateer Jean Laffite . Lake Peigneur Previously, it had been a 10-foot-deep (3 m) freshwater lake, popular for recreation, until human activity caused an unusual disaster on November 20, 1980, that changed its structure and

455-777: The River Irwell there was reference to barges passing below Barton Aqueduct with their mast and sails standing. Early barges on the Thames were called west country barges. In the United Kingdom the word barge had many meanings by the 1890s, and these varied locally. On the Mersey a barge was called a 'Flat', on the Thames a Lighter or barge, and on the Humber a 'Keel'. A Lighter had neither mast nor rigging. A keel did have

490-500: The narrowboat , which usually had a beam a couple of inches less to allow for clearance e.g. 6 feet 10 inches (2.08 m) . It was soon realized that the narrow locks were too limiting, and later locks were therefore doubled in width to 14 feet (4.3 m). This led to the development of the widebeam canal boat. The narrowboat (one word) definition in the Oxford English Dictionary is: Narrowboat:

525-469: The British canal system the term 'barge' is no longer used to describe narrowboats and widebeams . Narrowboats and widebeams are still seen on canals, mostly for leisure cruising, and now engine-powered. The people who moved barges were known as lightermen . Poles are used on barges to fend off other nearby vessels or a wharf. These are often called 'pike poles'. The long pole used to maneuver or propel

560-589: The British river system and larger waterways, the Thames sailing barge , and Dutch barge and unspecified other styles of barge, are still known as barges. The term Dutch barge is nowadays often used to refer to an accommodation ship, but originally refers to the slightly larger Dutch version of the Thames sailing barge. During the Industrial Revolution , a substantial network of canals was developed in Great Britain from 1750 onward. Whilst

595-456: The cause was washed away in the maelstrom . Engineers from Texaco and Diamond Crystal worked together after the fact and pinpointed the likely location of the hole within a mined out portion of the 1,300-foot (400 m) level of the mine. In 1983, Texaco and the drilling contractor Wilson Brothers paid US$ 32   million (equivalent to $ 98 million in 2023) to Diamond Crystal, while Texaco, Wilson Brothers and Diamond Crystal also paid

630-407: The ceiling at each level. The pillars were dissolved by the encroaching fresh water and caused the mine tunnels to collapse. The resultant sinkhole swallowed the drilling platform, eleven barges holding supplies for the drilling operation, a tugboat , many trees, and 65 acres (26 hectares) of the surrounding terrain, including much of Jefferson Island. So much water drained into the caverns that

665-434: The eleven sunken barges popped out of the whirlpool and refloated on the lake's surface. On the date of the disaster, the oil rig was conducting exploratory drilling in the lake alongside a salt dome under the water, that contained a salt mine. The rig's 14-inch (36 cm) drill assembly had become stuck at 1,228 feet (374 m) two-and-a-half hours before the drilling rig began to tilt. The drill assembly punctured

700-502: The final port to the refinery. The Transportation Institute at Texas A&M found that inland barge transportation in the US produces far fewer emissions of carbon dioxide for each ton of cargo moved compared to transport by truck or rail. According to the study, transporting cargo by barge produces 43% less greenhouse gas emissions than rail and more than 800% less than trucks. Environmentalists claim that in areas where barges, tugboats and towboats idle may produce more emissions like in

735-602: The flow of the Delcambre Canal that usually empties the lake into Vermilion Bay was reversed, causing salt water from the Gulf of Mexico to flow into what was now a dry lakebed. This backflow created for a few days the tallest waterfall ever in the state of Louisiana, at 164 ft (50 m), as the lake refilled with salty water from the Delcambre Canal and Vermilion Bay. Air displaced by water flowing into

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770-617: The gardens. On November 20, 1980, the Jefferson Island disaster happened, they had been oil drilling in Lake Peigneur when the rig hit into a salt mine which caused a large sink hole. In 2001, the home and garden tours had closed due to neglect. In Fall of 2002, Hurricane Lili caused extensive damages. From 1982 until 1991, the house was owned by the Live Oak Gardens Foundation (which had renamed

805-414: The largest of these could accommodate ocean-going vessels e.g the later Manchester Ship Canal , a complex network of smaller canals was also developed. These smaller canals had locks, bridges and tunnels that were at minimum only 7 feet (2.1 m) wide at the waterline . On wider sections, standard barges and other vessels could trade, but full access to the network necessitated the parallel development of

840-586: The locks and dams of the Mississippi River. Self-propelled barges may be used for traveling downstream or upstream in placid waters; they are operated as an unpowered barge, with the assistance of a tugboat, when traveling upstream in faster waters. Canal barges are usually made for the particular canal in which they will operate. Unpowered vessels—barges—may be used for other purposes, such as large accommodation vessels , towed to where they are needed and stationed there as long as necessary. An example

875-402: The mine caverns erupted through the mineshafts as compressed air and then later as 400-foot (120 m) geysers . Although there were no human deaths, three dogs were reported killed. All 55 employees in the mine at the time of the accident escaped, with six employees later given awards by Diamond Crystal for heroism. Their successful evacuation was thanks to the mine's electrician who noticed

910-614: The modern meaning arose around 1480. Bark "small ship" is attested from 1420, from Old French barque , from Vulgar Latin barca (400 AD). The more precise meaning of Barque as "three-masted sailing vessel" arose in the 17th century, and often takes the French spelling for disambiguation. Both are probably derived from the Latin barica , from Greek baris "Egyptian boat", from Coptic bari "small boat", hieroglyphic Egyptian and similar ba-y-r for "basket-shaped boat". By extension,

945-525: The sailing scow. The innovation that led to the modern barge was the use of iron barges towed by a steam tugboat. These were first used to transport grain and other bulk products. From about 1840 to 1870 the towed iron barge was quickly introduced on the Rhine, Danube, Don, Dniester , and rivers in Egypt, India and Australia. Many of these barges were built in Great Britain. Nowadays 'barge' generally refers to

980-436: The salt mine beneath the lake, and the water entered the mine. Over the course of several hours, the fresh lake water dissolved the salt and enlarged the hole, causing the lake to drain into the mine. The Mine Safety and Health Administration was unable to determine blame because they could not determine whether Texaco was drilling in the wrong place or if the mine's maps were inaccurate. Evidence that could have confirmed

1015-516: The site, Live Oak Gardens). From 1991 until 2003, the house was owned by Carolyn Doerle and Ron Ray. Since October 2003, the home is owned by Michael "Mike" Richard (of Live Oak Gardens Limited). Richard had worked at the home from 1969 to 1991 and has restored it. The house currently offers paid tours, a cafe and gift shop. The 22 room house was designed in the Moorish Revival and Gothic Revival architectural styles. It has been listed on

1050-450: The surrounding land. In petroleum geology , the formation of a salt dome often pushes terrain upward from the surrounding land, while also creating a subterranean salt dome trap , holding petroleum deposits. On Thursday, November 20, 1980, the drill assembly of a Texaco contracted oil rig , just offshore of the salt dome-caused Jefferson Island (itself in the east southeast section of Lake Peigneur), pierced an inactive third level of

1085-569: The term "embark" literally means to board the kind of boat called a "barque". In Great Britain a merchant barge was originally a flat bottomed merchant vessel for use on navigable rivers. Most of these barges had sails. For traffic on the River Severn the barge was described thus: "The lesser sort are called barges and frigates, being from forty to sixty feet in length, having a single mast and square sail, and carrying from twenty to forty tons burthen." The larger vessels were called trows. On

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1120-578: The tides, it made a very convenient mooring place for steam vessels. Within a few decades, the term dumb barge evolved, and came to mean: 'a vessel propelled by oars only'. By the 1890s Dumb barge was still used only on the Thames. By 1880 barges on British rivers and canals were often towed by steam tugboats. On the Thames, many dumb barges still relied on their poles, oars and the tide. Others dumb barges made use of about 50 tugboats to tow them to their destinations. While many coal barges were towed, many dumb barges that handled single parcels were not. On

1155-507: Was finally closed in December 1986. Since 1994, AGL Resources has used Lake Peigneur's underlying salt dome as a storage and hub facility for pressurized natural gas. There was concern from local residents in 2009 over the safety of storing the gas under the lake and nearby drilling operations. Barge Barge typically refers to a flat-bottomed vessel which does not have its own means of mechanical propulsion. Original use

1190-440: Was on inland waterways, while modern use is on both inland and marine water environments. The first modern barges were pulled by tugs , but on inland waterways, most are pushed by pusher boats , or other vessels. The term barge has a rich history, and therefore there are many types of barges. "Barge" is attested from 1300, from Old French barge , from Vulgar Latin barga . The word originally could refer to any small boat;

1225-671: Was shipped by barge from the Tulsa Port of Catoosa in Oklahoma to a refinery in Pascagoula, Mississippi . Extremely large objects are normally shipped in sections and assembled after delivery, but shipping an assembled unit reduces costs and avoids reliance on construction labor at the delivery site, which in the case of the reactor was still recovering from Hurricane Katrina . Of the reactor's 700-mile (1,100 km) journey, only about 40 miles (64 km) were traveled overland, from

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